Kolya
| runtime = 105 minutes | language = Czech, Slovak and Russian | gross = $7.7 millionworldwideboxoffice: Kolya | budget = CZK 28 millionsČeská televize: Kolja - Co možná nevíte (app. $1 million) }} Kolya ( ) is a 1996 Czech drama film about a man whose life is reshaped in an unexpected way. The film was directed by Jan Svěrák and stars his father, Zdeněk Svěrák, who also wrote the script from a story by Pavel Taussig. Kolya earned critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Synopsis The film begins in 1988 as the Soviet bloc is beginning to disintegrate. František Louka, a middle-aged Czech man dedicated to bachelorhood and the pursuit of women, is a concert cellist struggling to eke out a living by playing funerals at the Prague crematorium. He has lost his previous job at the Czech Philharmonic, having been half-accidentally blacklisted as "politically unreliable" by the authorities. A friend offers him a chance to earn a great deal of money through a sham marriage to a Russian woman to enable her to stay in Czechoslovakia. The woman then uses her new citizenship to emigrate to West Germany, where her boyfriend lives. Due to a concurrence of circumstances, she has to leave behind her 5-year-old son, Kolya, for the disgruntled Czech musician to look after. At first Louka and Kolya have communication difficulties, as they don't speak each other's languages and the many false friend words that exist in Czech and Russian add to the confusion. Gradually, though, a bond forms between Louka and Kolya. The child suffers from suspected meningitis and has to be placed on a course of carefully monitored antibiotics. Louka is threatened with imprisonment for his suspect marriage and the child may be placed in a Russian children's home. The Velvet Revolution intervenes though, and Kolya is reunited with his mother. Louka and Kolya say their goodbyes. Bachelor Louka ends up fathering a child with his girlfriend - perhaps a replacement for lost Kolya - and regains his position as a virtuoso with the philharmonic orchestra. Principal cast Reception The film gained positive reviews. Box office The film was successful on a limited release from 24 January 1997 and had taken about $5.73 million by 11 July that year after an opening weekend gross on three screens of $37,795.[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116790/?ref_=nmbio_mbio Kolya: Box Office, IMDB, Undated].Retrieved 24 January 2016. Between 28 July and 29 September 1997, more than 3.25 million tickets were sold to see the film in Germany[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116790/business?ref_=tt_dt_bus Box office / business for Kolya (1996), IMDB, Undated].Retrieved 24 January 2016. Awards * Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film * Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film * Czech Lion **Best Film **Best Director (Jan Svěrák) **Best Actress (Libuše Šafránková) **Best Supporting Actor (Andrei Chalimon) **Best Screenplay (Zdeněk Svěrák) **Best Editing (Alois Fišárek) *Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix See also * List of submissions to the 69th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film * List of Czech submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film References External links * * * Category:1996 films Category:Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners Category:Czech films Category:Czech-language films Category:1990s drama films Category:Miramax films Category:Russian-language films Category:Slovak-language films Category:Films directed by Jan Svěrák Category:Czech Republic–Russia relations Category:Films set in the 1980s